Test Day

On the menu today was a banquet of automobiles. It was the motor industry's annual SMMT Test Day, organised by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. It takes place at the Millbrook test track in Bedfordshire, and it is a valuable opportunity for us motoring writers to talk to industry contacts and drive some cars.

A few figures: we had a choice of 180 cars to try, brought along by 37 manufacturers, and access to 30 miles of test routes spread across 700 acres on which to try them. So many cars, never enough time!

Of all the cars there, this dazzling mirror-wrapped model was the most eye-catching under the afternoon sunshine. It is a Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell car.